The sun continually ejects electrically particles called ions. These particles race through the solar system as the solar wind. The solar wind is mostly deflected by Earth’s magnetosphere. (Without this protective layer, by the way, the solar wind would violently rip apart our atmosphere and stop all life on Earth. Thank you, magnetosphere!)

Although most of the solar wind is blocked by the magnetosphere, some ions become briefly trapped in ring-shaped holding areas around the planet. These areas, in a region of the atmosphere called the ionosphere, are centered around the Earth’s geomagnetic poles.

In the ionosphere, the ions of the solar wind collide with atoms of oxygen and nitrogen. The energy released during these collisions causes a colorful glowing halo around the poles—an aurora.

The green dragon’s head is mostly made by ions colliding with oxygen particles low in the ionosphere.

The red Canadian sky is probably a result of ions colliding with oxygen high in the ionosphere, although it could also be ions colliding with nitrogen lower in the atmosphere.

Phil Plait explains the pink: “If you have a source of red and blue light, these can combine to make something look magenta or pink . . . I strongly suspect that’s what’s going on here; we’re seeing a combination of red and blue light emitted by nitrogen molecules high over the Earth, and our eyes see that balance as pink.”

The Telegraph article mentions unusually active auroras in parts of Australia, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Strong auroras have also been reported in Minnesota, Ireland, New Zealand, and Madagascar—in addition to the usual suspects around the Arctic and Antarctic Circles!

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